In the land-locked state of Iowa, there’s a whole new twist on island life: the city of Dubuque is installing floating islands in Bee Branch Creek. This isn’t a tourism gimmick: the city is using specially constructed mini-islands that remove excess nutrients from the water. What’s more, these islands — 14 of them — are…

With spring comes the greening of lawns and gardens — and, by extension, the greening of rivers, streams and other bodies of water. The first is a good thing. The second — well, that’s decidedly bad. As we finally dust off the winter doldrums and head outside to start gardening, it’s easy to…